John W. Vessey

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Alternative Titles:
John William Vessey, Jr.

John W. Vessey, (John William Vessey, Jr.), American military officer (born June 29, 1922, Minneapolis, Minn.—died Aug. 18, 2016, North Oaks, Minn.), rose through the ranks in a 46-year military career that began with his 1939 enlistment in the Minnesota National Guard to become a four-star general in the U.S. Army and to serve (1982–85) as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Vessey was underage when he enlisted. His unit, the 34th Infantry Division, was called to active duty in 1941. He served as first sergeant of an artillery division in North Africa and Italy and received a battlefield commission as second lieutenant during the beachhead battle in Anzio, Italy, in 1944. After the end of World War II, he had postings in Germany and in South Korea before he was sent to Vietnam, where he fought in 1966 and 1967. Vessey was a lieutenant colonel in 1967 when he led his outnumbered battalion in defending a firebase in Vietnam against an intense assault. His bravery that day earned him a Distinguished Service Cross. After further postings in Germany, he returned to Southeast Asia in 1970 to head the U.S. Army Support Command, Thailand, and he was promoted (1971) to brigadier general. In 1972 he was sent to Laos to coordinate U.S. military operations there. Vessey received his fourth star in 1976 when he was made commander of U.S. forces in South Korea and commander in chief of the UN Command. He later served (1979–82) as vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army. As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he oversaw a great expansion of military spending, modernization, and an enlarged global military presence. After his 1985 retirement, he served as a special emissary entrusted with resolving the fate of missing U.S. service members from the Vietnam War. His work led to breakthroughs that resulted in the discovery of the remains of 900 military personnel, and as a result, Vessey was awarded the 1992 Presidential Medal of Freedom.